MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 
BOSTON 


Decorations over the 


Main Stairway and Library 





John Singer Sargent 





HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION 
WITH PLAN 
1925 


HISTORY OF THE DECORATIONS 


The first decorations made by John Singer Sargent for the 
Museum were designed for the rotunda. The plans for these 
were matured in 1916 and the unveiling took place in October, 
1921. A month later the Trustees approached Mr. Sargent with 
a view to having him continue the decorations, and it was 
planned to enrich with paintings and reliefs the vault over the 
main stairway leading up to the rotunda, the corridors from 
the rotunda to the library on either side of the staircase, and 
the space over the library door. The new decorations were 
conceived to harmonize with those already in the rotunda in one 
great scheme of color and form, visible for the most part from the 
head of the staircase. 

At the outset Mr. Sargent found it essential to make certain 
architectural changes. More space was procured for paintings by 
diminishing the area of the great skylight, so providing a place 
for the two long paintings (the “Apollo” and the “ Winds”’). 
The coffers below the skylight on both sides were removed to 
allow for the placing of the six reliefs coming directly below the 
ends of the two long paintings and of the skylight between them. 
In order to gain more light in the corridors on either side of the 
main stairway, the openings into the Classical and Renaissance 
courts were made larger, and the six large columns above the 
staircase on either side re-spaced. Two of these were moved 
across each corridor to accent the openings overlooking the 
Classical and Renaissance courts, and the remaining four columns 
were grouped in pairs to frame an equal opening over the staircase, 
giving an effect reminiscent of a Genoese palace. 

The original plan embraced all six reliefs but only nine of the 
present twelve paintings; the three paintings below the lunette 
were added later. Most of the studies and some of the canvases 
were done in Boston, but others, including the largest paintings 
and all the reliefs, were done in England. It is a matter for 
sincere congratulation that all these new mural decorations 


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Philosophy Unveiling Science 
6 7"x3 8” of Truth 6 7"x3' 8” 
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Reliets Winds 25 2"x10 9" Reliefs 


had been finished and the last of them shipped to Boston by 
Mr. Sargent before he died. 

The general coloring of the paintings is a golden ochre for the 
figures against a background of blue. The “Orestes,” however, 
is a light greenish gray against dull reds and orange. 

As with the rotunda, Mr. Sargent had a model made to scale 
before beginning work, and left behind scores of charcoal and 
other studies which he had used in his compositions. His 
methods were not those of a haphazard genius—his plans were 
carefully thought out, and explicit directions written down for 
those who should install the work. 


[3] 


Chiron 10°5”x 115" 


Diam. 10° 
RENAISSANCE COURT 


Atlas 


Perseus 10°5”x 115" 


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The Danaides. Maidens carrying water jars are advancing 
from the left to empty them into a large urn with openings near 
the bottom through which the water escapes; on the right the 
procession is bearing off the empty vessels. The picture offers 
both a mythological and an allegorical interpretation. The name 
is derived from the story of the fifty daughters of Danaiis, who 
were given to the fifty sons of Egyptus in marriage. The mar- 
riage was displeasing to Danaiis, who gave each daughter a dag- 
ger, telling her to slay her husband on the night of the marriage, 
which command was obeyed by all save Hypermnestra, who fell 
in love with her husband and spared him. In punishment for 
the crime the Danaides were condemned everlastingly to pour 
water into a vessel with holes in it. The allegorical interpreta- 
tion may be given as follows: The figures represent the various 
sources* of wisdom from which the “fountain of knowledge” 
is supplied, the urn being so treated as to form a fountain 
from which the water flows down over a low platform of 
steps. 

The three panels below the lunette are Philosophy, the seated 
draped figure of a young man who rests his chin on his hand as 
he leans forward in dreamy thought; The Unveiling of Truth, a 
youth uncovering a dim figure filled with the mystery of unknown 
possibilities; and Scvence, an astronomer measuring the constel- 
lations of the heavens while a young woman records the results 
of his labors. 

The subjects of the group of four paintings are in keeping with 
their position over the entrance to the library. Their effect is 
one of tranquillity and emotionless generalization in contrast to 
the dramatic quality of the other decorations. 

Apollo in His Chariot with the Hours. Phoebus Apollo, the 
Greek sun-god, surrounded by speeding male figures representing 
the Hours, is driving his chariot close on the heels of Artemis 
(Diana) wearing a crescent moon over her forehead. Night, 
symbolized by the goddess with the moon in her hair, flees 

* cf, La Source by the French painter, J. A. D. Ingres (1780-1867). 


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before the Day, personified by the sun-god, so picturing the 
moment of dawn when night gives place to day. 

Personification of the great forces of nature as gods — the 
sun, moon, winds, ocean, and others — forms the very basis of 
Greek religion, and long after these had ceased to be wor- 
shipped as gods the idea of their individuality and the traditions 
of their deeds and attributes lingered to symbolize the forces 
which they personified. Especially in the arts of painting and 
sculpture do these picturesque traditions of an older civilization 
to which we are heirs still live. 

The conception of the sun-god driving a four-horse chariot 
appears in scenes painted on Greek vases as early as the fifth 
century B.C., but the addition of the Hours to the composition 
came much later and is used by Guido Reni (1575-1642) in a 
ceiling fresco in the Palazzo Rospigliosi at Rome, where the 
effect closely resembles this painting. 

The subject of the Sun in his chariot is a favorite one for ceil- 
ing decoration, and the fitness of its choice grows out of the 
thought of the early Egyptians, for whom a temple symbolized 
a miniature universe of which the ceiling was the sky. The nat- 
uralness of the conception still holds good, making the choice of 
subject for the two long paintings high overhead, one the Sun 
and the other the Winds, remarkably fitting. 

The Winds. Four male figures, signifying the winds from the 
four quarters of the sky, are flying against a background of sky 
and clouds. Boreas, the cold north wind, wears a dark, heavy 
robe and is represented plunging downward as though literally 
‘coming down from the north.” He holds a conch shell in his 
hand and his aspect is more threatening than that of the others, 
the more so as his passage is marked with flashing streaks as of 
lightning. Zephyrus, the west wind, is a youth wholly nude, 
from whose outstretched hands flowers are wafted over the sky. 
His attitude is gentle, almost languid, as he drifts lightly along. 
Notus, the south wind, is also a youthful figure, with a mantle 
blown across his head, almost hiding the face. He holds an 


[8] 


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inverted jar from which a great stream of water flows, referring 
to the south wind as a rain-bringer. The fourth figure, Eurus, 
the southeast or east wind, is lunging to one side, his body 
and aspect stronger and more blustering than either Notus or 
Zephyrus. He blows lustily on a conch shell, and the clouds 
which form a background design for the picture are thicker 
behind him, blacker around Boreas, and light and delicate 
near Zephyrus. All four figures are winged, though their motion 
appears to be from a force within them and characteristic of 
each, rather than a result of the use of their wings. 

An account * of the Tower of the Winds built at Athens in 
the first century B.C. shows how closely this painting follows the 
early conception of the characteristics of these powers of nature 
as rendered in sculpture on this ancient monument: “Boreas, 
the cold north wind, is a bearded man wearing a heavy sleeved 
robe and buskins, and blowing on a shell. . . . Notus, the showery 
south wind, is a youth lightly dressed and holding an inverted 
water jar... . Zephyrus, the warm west wind, is almost nude and 
has his mantle filled with flowers. All the figures are winged... .”’ 

Perseus on Pegasus slaying Medusa. Perseus was said to be 
the son of Zeus and Danaé and the grandson of Acrisius, King of 
Argos. Acrisius was warned that he would die by the hand of 
Perseus, so he shut Danaé and her child in a chest and threw them 
into the sea. They drifted to an island where they were rescued 
by Dictys, brother of the king. Dictys fell in love with Danaé, 
and when Perseus, now full-grown, interfered, he was sent away 
to fetch the head of Medusa, one of the Gorgons. These creatures 
were shaped like women, except for golden wings and bronze 
feet, with snakes instead of hair. 2 

Perseus was equipped for the undertaking with winged san- 
dals, a bag in which to carry the head, and the Helmet of Hades 
which rendered him invisible, given him by the nymphs; a sickle 
given him by Hermes; and a mirror given him by Athena, for to 
look directly at Medusa was said to turn any one into stone. Thus 

* C. H. Weller, Athens and its Monuments. 

[ 10 | 





PrrsEus oN Pecasus SuAyYING MEDUSA 


Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 


[11] 


armed he found the Gorgons asleep, and looking in the mirror he 
cut off the head of Medusa. From Medusa sprang the wingéd 
horse, Pegasus, which was afterward tamed and trained by 
Athena. Perseus thrust the head in his bag and made off, pur- 
sued by the rest of the Gorgons. After various adventures with 
the head, among which he turned Atlas into a mountain, he gave 
it to Athena, who placed it on her breastplate (aegis) as can be 
seen in the statues of Athena still existing. 

In this picture the story is condensed: Perseus is mounted, on 
Pegasus holding the head of the Gorgon by its snaky locks, in 
the act of passing it to Athena. 

Atlas and the Hesperides. The kneeling Atlas bears on his 
shoulders a large globe symbolizing the sky, on which are visible 
signs of the zodiac; beyond Atlas the sun is rising over the ocean, 
and in the foreground sleeping maidens lie at his feet, two of whom 
are holding apples in their hands. These sleeping figures are the 
Hesperides (daughters of Atlas), the storied Islands of the West 
where grew the famous golden apples sought by Hercules in one 
of his twelve labors. 

In the legends Atlas led the Titans, a race of giants, in their 
fight with Zeus. When they were conquered Atlas was condemned 
to bear up the skies on his shoulders forever. Hercules came 
to Atlas when he was hunting for the Hesperides, whose where- 
abouts was lost even at the time of the Greeks, so old was the 
legend of the apples. Atlas offered to get the apples if in the 
meantime Hercules would take his place and hold up the heavens. 
This he did while Atlas secured the golden apples, but on return- 
ing Atlas refused to resume the load which he had so conveniently 
shifted to the shoulders of another. The crafty Hercules, how- 
ever, pretended to need a pad on his shoulders, and persuaded 
Atlas to hold the skies long enough for him to arrange one; no 
sooner had Atlas resumed the burden than Hercules made off 
with the golden apples in his hands, leaving ‘Atlas to call in vain. 
At another time Perseus, in his wanderings with the Gorgon’s 
head, came upon Atlas and showed him the head, which instantly 

[12] 





ATLAS AND THE HESPERIDES 


Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 


[13] 


turned Atlas into a mountain, famed among the ancients as so 
lofty that it was supposed the heavens rested on its top. This 
mountain range near the coast of Northern Africa is still called 
the Atlas Mountains. 

Of the signs of the zodiac to be seen in the painting the cen- 
tral one, Gemini, is an ‘air’ sign, and so serves to strengthen 
the symbolism of the globe which Atlas bears as signifying the 
skies. A group of stars in the constellation Taurus, to the left 
of Gemini, is named for the daughters of Atlas and Aethra. 

Chiron and Achilles. The centaur, Chiron, bears on his back 
the young Achilles, whom he is teaching to shoot with a bow and 
arrow. The centaur is seen outlined against the blue of the sky 
and masses of white clouds, his rearing body making a powerful 
sweep in the composition. An eagle, the emblem of Zeus, is poised 
overhead indicating the god’s interest in the youthful hero of the 
Trojan War, who is spoken of in Homer as “Achilles, dear to 
Zeus.”’ Chiron, the only one of the race of centaurs who is re- 
puted to be gentle and friendly to men, was well skilled in the 
arts of music, hunting, and war, and was supposed to have trained 
many of the Greek heroes of song and story. The young Achilles 
is especially associated with him, — 


“Swift as the wingéd wing 
Achilles, whom the goddess Thetis bore 
And gave to Chiron in his rigid lore 
To train his infant mind.” * 


The centaurs, beings half man, half horse, were said to frequent 
the wild mountainous country of Thrace, in the north. Warlike 
and brutal, except for Chiron, they were a favorite theme in Greek 
sculpture and painting, their use giving a splendid variety of form 
and action. The war of the Centaurs and Lapiths on the pedi- 
ment of the temple of Zeus at Olympia is the most important 
instance of their use in Greek art. 
Chiron bearing the young Achilles was apparently a favorite 
_ * Euripides’ “Tphigenia in Aulis.” 
[14] 


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CHIRON AND ACHILLES 


Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 


theme with the artist, for he used it also as the subject of a relief 
in the rotunda decorations. Chiron, again, is shown as Sagittarius 
in the painting of Phaethon described later. 

Orestes. Many figures of Erinyes (avenging furies) with flam- 
ing torches and handfuls of snakes pursue the youthful Orestes, 
who flees madly away to the protecting arms of his sister, Iphigenia. 

The story illustrated tells how King Agamemnon came home 
from the Trojan war only to be killed by his wife, Clytemnestra, 
and her lover, Aegisthus. Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, then a 
child, was saved from his mother by his sister, Electra, and 
brought up far from his own home. When he reached the age of 
twenty he was ordered by Apollo through the Delphic Oracle to 
return home and revenge his father. Accordingly Orestes slew 
Clytemnestra and Aegisthus, but after the matricide he was seized 
with madness and pursued by the Erinyes. According to one 
version he was at last relieved of the madness by his sister Iphi- 
genia, whom he found by accident officiating as the priestess of 
Artemis among the Taurians, when he was shipwrecked on the 
Taurian shores. 

The dramatic force of this story and its connection with the 
Trojan war gave it a lasting place in Greek literature. It forms 
the theme of plays by the three great tragedians of Athens, 
Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides. In one of these plays 
Orestes cries out to Apollo: 


“QO Phoebus, by thy oracles again 
Why hast thou led me to the toils? E’er since 
In vengeance for my father’s blood I slew 
My mother, ceaseless by the Furies driven, 
Vagrant, an outcast, many a bending course 
My feet have trod: to thee I came, of thee 
Inquired this whirling frenzy by what means, 
And how my labours I might end.”’ * 


The painting portrays the panic of the young Orestes, hardly 
more than a boy, and the horror of his sister to see him in 





* Euripides’ “‘Iphigenia in Tauris.” 


[ 16 | 





ORESTES 


Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 


[17] 


such a plight. The Furies are terrible in their avenging madness, 
the fearful imaginings of Orestes’ brain taken shape to pursue 
him. The orange glare of the torches and the greenish gray tinge 
of the flesh tones give a strange suggestion of an unbalanced 
mind, as a stage setting tends to further the effect of a play. | 

Phaethon. The hapless Phaethon is plunging headlong from 
the track of the sun through the heavens, his body wrapped in 
flames; two horses and a wheel of the chariot are falling with 
him. The solar track —a curved band with the signs of the 
zodiac, Scorpio, Sagittarius, and Capricorn — extends from the 
top to the right side of the painting. 

Phaethon was the son of Helios (the Sun) and the ocean nymph, 
Clymene. He besought his father to let him drive the horses of 
the Sun across the skies for one day, and his father, though un- 
willing, finally yielded to his wish. The horses proved too strong 
for his inexperienced guidance and swerved from the track, drag- 
ging the chariot to destruction. So near the earth they came that 
the great heat scorched the land of Libya, leaving it an arid waste, 
burnt the skin of the Ethiopians black, and drove the Nile to 
conceal its sources. Zeus, seeing the catastrophe, hurled a thunder- 
bolt killing the adventurous Phaethon and averting a universal 
conflagration. The nymphs of the river Eridanus buried the body 
of the youth, and his sisters, the Heliades, mourned him till they 
turned into trees and their tears formed drops of amber. 

The prominence of Sagittarius in the composition is to be 
explained by its significance as a ‘fire’ sign (and so connected 
with the sun), ruled by the planet Jupiter (Zeus). The fact 
that Zeus had just hurled his thunderbolt at the unfortunate 
Phaethon is hinted by the presence of Sagittarius with an arrow 
ready to let fly from his bow. 

Hercules and the Hydra. Hercules (Herakles), the son of Alc- 
mene, a mortal, and Zeus, the father of the gods in Greek mythol- 
ogy, was the hero of many legends characterized by the use of his 
tremendous strength. The more important of the stories are 
grouped together and known as the “Twelve Labors of Hercules” 

[ 18 ] 





PHAETHON 


Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 


[ 19] 


which he performed in the service of King Eurystheus. One of 
these was his fight with the Lernean Hydra, a huge snake pos- 
sessed of nine heads, the central one being immortal. For each 
head struck off by Hercules, two grew to take its place, so that 
at the moment chosen here the Hydra shows thirteen venomous 
heads raised against the hero. In the story Hercules overcame 
the Hydra by burning the bleeding necks to prevent new heads 
growing, except for the immortal head which he buried beneath 
a huge rock. 

In the painting we see Hercules with his two distinctive attri- 
butes: the skin of the Nemean lion, which he killed in another of 
his twelve labors, hanging over his head and shoulders, and the 
heavy club, his favorite weapon, raised to strike the Hydra. 
The thick coils of the snake wind around Hercules and the many 
long necks twist and writhe, forming a composition like the roots. 
of a tree. 


Reliefs 


The series of six reliefs, on which four different compositions 
appear, occupies the space beneath the paintings and skylight 
of the vault over the stairway. They have no titles but repre- 
sent athletes in a race, and youths in graceful attitudes with 
garlands. They bear witness to the constant versatility of the 
artist. From oil portraits and landscapes, he turned with a 
sense of enjoyment to water colors, later to architecture, and 
in connection with architecture, sculptured reliefs. In those of 
the rotunda together with the paintings there, he shows a classic 
reserve, but in the later ones over the staircase there is a freer 
decorative quality. Perhaps the dramatic force which is evident 
in the latter is a measure of the abandon with which he let him- 
self go again. It is certainly interesting that he should display 
such energy even up to the end of his career. 

In all the decoration of the rotunda and the staircase, cover- 
ing a period of many years, Mr. Thomas A. Fox was at Mr. 
Sargent’s right hand giving him loyal and devoted help. 

[ 20 | 





HERCULES AND THE HyprRa 


Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 


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Copyright, 1925, by the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Massachusetts 





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